"it seemed like it was enough, but it was never enough." - the mobius band

A lot of news to report, so where to begin. Friday eve was the big second anniversary of Dot Com Layoff Version One Point Oh, and as such I reconnoitered with Herr Koomahr, Dave Big Om, the Good Doctor and the Grohda. Fun was had, tho by the end of the night I was getting pretty sleepy as I had been drinking steadily for six hours.

Word has come down from on high that WPRS is getting with the times. This from the big man himself:

In light of recent updates [see here], I motion that we founding members of WPRS suck it up and 'get aboard' with the new direction our posse is heading. I know it may seem like a drastic departure from our original mission to bring the funk, but the Posse is an ever-changing and evolving organism. It is our duty to support the membership in its desire to change the Posse into a scaled-train operation.

I hope you take time to reevaluate your dedication, reexamine where your roots are planted, and recommit your loyalties. After I hear back from you, I will be contacting the new headquarters of WPRS, and informing them that we are going to reactivate our memberships, and become more involved in the new activities of the Posse.

My goal is for 25% of the original membership to be present for opening night of "Christmas in Intercourse, PA: The WPRS Holiday Train Extravaganza", which takes place Dec. 26 at the Holiday Inn in Intercourse, PA.

Thank you for your consideration.

This is big news, since the Posse has grown about as far flung and downright loose as possible over the last decade. I am glad our fearless leader has put out the call for tightening up. Anyhow...

I gave a relative crap-load of money to WMBR, and I am going to suck in the girth for a second and hoist myself up onto the soap box for another second to say that as part of our lifelong [WPRS-sanctioned or non-WPRS-sanctioned] stand against THE MAN it is important to support that which also stands against The Man. I am feeling particularly desperate about this in light of the cover story in December's Harper's magazine, another screed about the evils of Clear Channel's vertical dominance of radio outlets and live music venues. Not news, right? Well this article used as its hook Philly's notoriously corrupt License and Inspection bureau's actions (possibly at the behest of Clear Channel's regional bootlicker) against R5 Productions honcho Sean Agnew. Agnew throws well-orchestrated punk and indie shows in Philly, and has become organized and visible enough, apparently, to raise eyebrows among the greedy codpieces in the Clear Channel camp, which enjoys a vice-like grip on commercial radio and live venues in Philly as elsewhere. One of the main characters in the feature is Bryan Dilworth, husband of FMCer Kristen Thompson, one-time member of the Lilys, and now, apparently, Clear Channel's local underlord. Anyway, the whole story is fairly depressing. And without rehashing the argument against media consolidation, I just want to say take a look at the alternative and/or local media outlets in your hood, and support them. As Kam Fong long exhorted us, we must take OUR stand against The Man. So please go over to your leftist friend's pad and read the article, called "War of the Worlds - I. Big World: How Clear Channel Programs America." That is all about that.

The latest disc in the monthly Music Development Series is basically done, tho I may resequence some of the songs. Those will go out this week or as I see folks.

Lopez should be getting home from NH permanently at the end of this coming work week, and there may in fact be a Thanksgiving after all. Early this afternoon we bought a new Dell laptop online. It is worth noting that we opted for the 5150 model, not to give props to Van Hagar, but to give props to Van Halen.

I got off my arse this weekend and took the antique mandolin we rescued out of Lopez's abuelita's house last year up the road to Sandy's to have them look it over. They said it was basically structurally sound, and just needed some thorough clean-up and a new set of strings. I obliged, and now you will occasionally find me 'round the house trying to learn Hooters songs or the mandolin part to "I Will Dare."

There are a lot dishes to do. That is all.